A Beautiful Lie
by Lana Langston
Summary: Nothing is as it seems. It was all a beautiful lie right from the start. Neal Caffrey and Rebecca Lowe battle their internal conflictions. Each for their own reasons. An eye-opening introspective POV from Neal and Rebecca. This story is set between episode 5.10 "Live Feed" and episode 5.11 "Shot Through The Heart". Warning: MAJOR Season 5 spoilers!
1. Neal's POV

I've recently binge-marathoned all five seasons of White Collar (a total of 75 episodes) in only 9 days! I'm head over heels in love with this spectacular show. I don't know why I didn't start White Collar years ago. This truly versatile cast ensemble brings White Collar to life!

Two days ago, I got a brilliant idea for a White Collar fanfic story. The song "A Beautiful Lie" by 30 Seconds to Mars is my inspiration for this fanfiction story. This is one of my shortest stories which is pretty impressive for me. I thoroughly enjoy challenging myself as a writer by tackling different types of story styles and subject matters.

"_A Beautiful Lie" by 30 Seconds to Mars Lyrics_

_Lie awake in bed at night  
And think about your life  
Do you want to be different?  
Try to let go of the truth  
The battles of your youth  
'Cause this is just a game_

_It's a beautiful lie  
It's a perfect denial  
Such a beautiful lie to believe in  
So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me_

_It's time to forget about the past  
To wash away what happened last  
Hide behind an empty face  
Don't ask too much the same  
'Cause this is just a game_

_It's a beautiful lie  
It's a perfect denial  
Such a beautiful lie to believe in  
So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me  
Lie, beautiful, oh_

_Everyone's looking at me  
I'm running 'round in circles  
Plagued with a quiet desperation's building higher  
I've got to remember this is just a game_

_So beautiful, beautiful  
It's a beautiful lie  
So beautiful, beautiful  
It's a beautiful lie_

_So beautiful, beautiful  
It's a beautiful lie  
So beautiful, beautiful  
It's a beautiful lie_

_It's a beautiful lie  
It's a perfect denial  
Such a beautiful lie to believe in  
So beautiful, beautiful lie makes__ me_

_**I do not own any of the characters from White Collar! WARNING: Mild swearing and MAJOR spoilers from White Collar Season 5! **_

_**I'd greatly appreciate your constructive feedback! I believe the best way to improve as a writer is getting feedback. Hope you enjoy my story! R&amp;R!**_

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_~Neal's POV_~

"You, business, and woman. The unholy trinity." My wise friend said this recently. I assumed Mozzie was making a snarky remark at the time. He was right. The accuracy of his words steadily dawned on me as I downed copious amounts of Jack Daniels whiskey. So much internal confliction battled within me.

It was never a good idea to let personal feelings interfere with my business matters. That's what separates a mediocre con artist from the top-notch con artists. It is a very competitive business where you constantly have to be on your toes. You could never be too comfortable for too long. Your legacy is not pulling off the best con job. I gained my spectacularly infamous reputation by pulling a variety of con jobs usually by myself. But I've worked with some of my friends like Mozzie and Alex on a few jobs over the years. The combination of being book smart and street smart has allowed me to thrive as a notoriously well-respected con artist in the industry.

Mixing pleasure and business hasn't always worked out well for me. I will always love Kate Moreau. She was my first love and I'll never stop loving her. I've found closure for that part of my life since I don't want to keep living in the past. You miss too many wonderful moments by constantly dwelling on the past. Kate was my weakness. Agent Peter Burke realized this and found a creative way to draw me out of hiding. I blindly walked straight into his trap. Next thing I knew Agent Burke arrested me and sent me away to prison for four years. Well technically 3.75 years since I broke out of prison three months before my sentence was over. The reason I escaped prison was to track down Kate after she suddenly stopped visiting me in prison.

History is a vicious cycle. Personal feelings especially romantic attachments cloud my logic making it more difficult to go about my business with a clear head. History has a messed up sense of humor. It has viciously come back to bite me in the ass.

I willingly let myself get conned by another con artist. Rebecca Lowe. Innocent like Kate, witty like Sara, and alluring like Alex. The perfect formula to draw me in according to her in-depth research. I fooled myself into believing I could fall in love with a normal woman. I've dealt with my fair share of shitty circumstances over the past few years. It was refreshing to meet a woman who wasn't a con artist or who held vengeful grudge and wanted to send me to prison. That's obviously a lie. Rebecca should have her own damn category for her uniqueness.

God knows how long she had been casing my con-artist associates, FBI co-workers, friends, and myself. Her files were pretty damn detailed. She knew so many details about my childhood that I hadn't even told my closest friends. Her very detailed-oriented files put hardcore stalkers to shame! That's not even the worse part. Yes, it gets horribly worse.

Rebecca had been working together with Curtis Hagen right from the start. Mozzie talked to some of his contacts to get more information about Rebecca Lowe. She visited Curtis Hagen many times in prison. Hagen was reluctant to team up with a complete stranger until she had found a way to shorten his prison sentence through a retrial. In fact, she proposed they combined their talents and skills to solve Mosconi's treasure hunt. They were missing one vital piece to their plan. Me. I wouldn't have put the pieces together if Peter and I hadn't accidentally stumbled across her Brooklyn apartment while chasing down a promising lead in Agent Siegel's murder. Agent David Siegel was my new handler since Peter was taking on a new role and more responsibilities at White Collar division.

I don't open up easily to just anyone. When you are a con-artists, you don't have this luxury. The more vulnerable you made yourself the more it would backfire on you somehow. It was an occupational hazard to form emotional attachments with too many people. Only two days ago I decided to tell Rebecca about my criminal background. It wasn't an easy a decision but healthy relationships aren't built on lies. She didn't run away. She did the complete opposite by choosing to intimately spend the night at my place. This should have tipped me off something was wrong. Most people wouldn't easily digest what I told Rebecca. Even the most forgiving person.

Curtis Hagen aka "The Dutchman" was a ruthless bastard but at least he never pretended to care about me. He was honest about his ulterior motives. Peter would still be in prison if I hadn't bribed prosecutor Dawson with the Welsh gold coins. Rebecca, on the other hand, blatantly lied to my face since our first meeting at the museum. Hagen blackmailed me to brazenly heist chapter 13 from the Mosconi Codex on display at the Gershon Museum. I have no doubt that she passed along this idea to him. Both played equally important roles in their devious scheme. Curtis Hagen was the villain. Rebecca Lowe was the "saint". Although, she was actually the devil in disguise beneath her cover.

I'm conflicted. A part of me is appalled at how Rebecca deceived me the entire time, but another part of me still cares about her. I've gone too soft these past few years working alongside Peter. I need to sharpen my skills. If you don't use them, you lose your touch. I don't know how many times my heart can be broken before I become as cynical as Mozzie. What the hell did I do deserve so much bad luck? I just can't catch a break no matter how much I try.

It isn't easy trying to build an honest career for myself when my former criminal past continually taunts me. I'm torn between forging a respectable life, but I still crave my former con-artist life. Once you've experienced the adrenaline rush of the con-artist lifestyle, it is an addictive drug that isn't easy to give up. Each day is struggle. Having the right people in my life, I know positive change is possible. I don't know what I'd do without the encouraging support from my friends. Mozzie. June. Agent Diana Berrigan. Agent Clinton Jones. Ellen Parker. Most importantly Agent Peter Burke and his wife, Elizabeth. Family doesn't end in blood.

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**I appreciate you supporting my story! Stay tuned for the next chapter. It will be the conclusion to A Beautiful Lie! **


	2. Rebecca's POV

**I've had so much fun working on this White Collar fanfiction story. It was very interesting writing from the perspectives of Neal Caffrey and Rebecca Lowe. I had to keep their personalities traits separated. I made sure to maintain the integrity of these very different and unique characters. Also, I took some slight artistic freedom in this story BUT it majorly stays true to White Collar Season 5 overarching plot-arc. I enjoy writing fanfiction stories for a variety of fandoms. It challenges me to further improve as an author. **

**Here's the next and ****final**** chapter to A Beautiful Lie. Enjoy! I appreciate your feedback! R&amp;R!**

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~_Rebecca's POV_~**  
**

I'm still no closer to finding out the location of Mosconi's great treasure. I'd love to see the Hope Diamond's long-lost twin with my own two eyes. It must be spectacularly stunning gem. Neal can flash his signature smiles and sparkling blue eyes at me, but my purpose of spending time with him is solving this treasure hunt. Even after Hagen and I pooled our information and contacts together we still weren't even in the right direction. Neal Caffrey is surprisingly resourceful despite the two mile radius restriction of his tracking anklet. Several months of searching for leads in the Mosconi treasure hunt we found no useful information, while Neal made significant progress in discovering many new leads in a short amount of time. Neal and Mozzie made quite the dynamic duo. My plan is to retrieve the Hope Diamond's twin within 6 months. So far I'm still on my schedule. Things have so far panned out just as they should.

Curtis Hagen and I decided it was best to glean information out of Caffrey using two entirely different methods. He insisted on being the cutthroat villain, while I feign an innocent damsel-in-distress character. The only way to successfully pull off that was to study Neal's past flames in detail. Alexandra Hunter, Kate Moreau, and Sara Ellis were very fascinating case studies. He thinks he is unpredictable. That is false. There were definitely particular qualities that attracted Neal Caffrey to his love interests. A good con artist studies up on their subject along with anyone else involved in their life. Everyone had to believe your cover.

I've been struggling with strictly maintaining my cover, while accomplishing different stages of the con. Four months had flown by faster than I expected. All of the intensive research I did on Neal Caffrey's associates from his former con life and at the FBI along with his close friends convinced me he was a charmer always with his own ulterior motives. My extensive research made me understand the nature of his relationship with the important people in his life. It didn't tell me about the depth of his personality. Being a damn good con-artist, his vibrantly gorgeous pearly white smiles never leaked through any of his personal conflicts and struggles. It's why he is one of the well-respected legends in the con-artist industry. Neal Caffrey had achieved many astonishing accomplishments and a variety of jobs in his prolific career. He wasn't your average con-artist.

A year ago, I'd stumbled across wonderful tidbit of information from one of my sources. They didn't tell me who my ultimate mark was, instead to get in contact with Curtis Hagen. Hagen had quite the reputation within the industry as a talented art restorer who utilized his skills for forgery and counterfeiting priceless masterpieces including World War II Spanish Victory bonds. Curtis Hagen was serving a 5 year prison sentence in New York. I packed up my belongings and travelled to New York leaving sunny Malibu behind me. Farewell, Natasha Smith.

Upon arriving New York, I found an apartment complex in Brooklyn where I could stay under the radar. I played around with my physical appearance by trying out different hair colors and hairstyles. I needed to depict innocent nerdy bookworm who had an avid interest in the Mosconi codex. My curly dark brown hair was transformed into fiery red wavy hair. Hipster glasses and geek chic clothing were the finishing touches to my new identity. Rebecca Lowe was born into existence.

It took me four months of continual visits to Curtis Hagen in prison before he accepted my business proposition. I'd pay him 30% of the proceeds when I sold the Mosconi treasure. I would still be making a huge chuck of cash from the sale of this magnificent treasure. No need to hold onto it and draw unwanted attention my way.

The first step of the con was to figure out where the Mosconi codex was located. A reliable source of mine told me it was being displayed in one of the prominent museums in New York City. The Gershon Museum to be exact. I procured a job at this museum by showing off my vast knowledge of art history. It soon dawned on me the mark of this con operation was none other than the "reformed" con-artist Neal Caffrey. Our first introduction was when he "ran" into me while casing the Mosconi codex display at the Gershon Museum. The wittiness of Sarah, allure of Alex, and pure innocence of Kate would intrigue him. He would easily take the bait.

Hagen was tasked with getting Neal Caffrey to steal Welch gold coins to bribe a prosecutor overseeing Agent Burke's indictment trial. With video feed evidence of his criminal activity, Neal would be willing to do Hagen's bidding including destroying the damning evidence being held by the FBI. His retrial would ensure his early release since the WWII Spanish Victory bonds would be unreadable. Therefore, Hagen would be released due to insufficient evidence to remain in prison. Ultimately, Caffrey would get his hands dirty by stealing the 13th chapter of the Mosconi codex. No one could link it back to either Rebecca Lowe or Curtis Hagen. Our hands were clean.

I had to be cautious not to let on I knew too much about the mysterious Chapter 13 in the Mosconi codex. Neal couldn't become suspicious of me spending more quality time with him either. As expected, he took the bait and steadily let me become involved in his life. This included frequent interactions with his close, trusted group of friends and associates. It was rather adorable to see Neal jump through many hoops to impress and woo me while simultaneously keeping his criminal past hidden from me. A charismatic charmer who had a vivacious personality with intriguing facets. His personality threw a fair share of curveballs at me. You cannot wholly comprehend your mark only by doing extensive research on them from their childhood to adulthood. Some of my research on Neal made him out to be conniving, swindling son of a bitch. Whoever said this obviously held a serious grudge against Neal Caffrey. The more time I spend privately with him I was pleasantly surprised. I'd been skeptical of his "reform" but he constantly strives to live a respected life away from white collar criminal activity.

The Hope Diamond's long-lost twin would grant my lifelong freedom from constantly running in fear my true identity will be discovered. I had a huge target on my back. Many of my enemies including MI6 would love to collect the two million euro reward that involved killing Rachel Turner. That's what happens when a MI6 agent suddenly turns rogue. It was such an exciting adrenaline rush to engage in criminal activity. Just one taste and you become an addicted adrenaline junkie who needs your continuous fix of dangerous thrills. At this point of my life, I'm sick of running away and always looking over my shoulder in paranoia. I want to start life with a completely clean slate. A reliable source of mine here in New York was in the business of identify harvesting. A new life was awaiting me. I can live life to the fullest and not live in fear or paranoia.

Recently I cannot distinguish whether my romantic feelings for Neal Caffrey is coming from my false identity as Rebecca Lowe or my real identity as Rachel Turner. Business and pleasure had been dangerously mixed together. It was no longer black or white. The thought of spending quality alone time with Neal made me involuntarily smile and my heart flutter with overwhelming joy. I was too far into this scheme to completely withdraw now. My mind needed to be refocus on the overall mission of locating the final destination of Mosconi's treasure hunt.

Every time I came by to visit him my heart started to beat violently against my rib cage. Whatever this romantic attachment I harbored for him it were no doubt _real_. It wasn't from my cover as Rebecca. I'd fallen in love with my mark. Dammit that wasn't supposed to be part of the plan!

My mind keeps re-playing of what happened two days ago. Neal leaves me a strangely cryptic voicemail. I didn't know whether to perceive this as good or bad. June graciously invited me into her palatial townhouse. I got no bad vibes as I walked up the staircase to the second floor. Despite trying to steady my heartbeat, it betrayed me. My breathing came in short pants as butterflies fluttered around frantically in my stomach. Damn you, Neal George Caffrey! Out of all of my marks you were the _only one_ who could melt away the thick ice around my heart. I didn't think I was capable of loving someone after Andrew. Andrew Wilson was my undercover partner in MI6 and boyfriend many years ago. He ratted me out as an agent who had turned to the dark side. The love that burned in his eyes soon transformed into callous hatred and revulsion. After going rogue, I swore to never love fall in love with anyone. It wasn't worth all the painful heartbreak.

I had gotten good enough to understand the meaning of Neal's various facial expression. His blue eyes sparked gleefully but I could see past his forced smile. Something was weighing heavily on his mind. There was a couple minutes of silence as he collected his thoughts together. What he did next completely threw me for an unexpected curveball. Neal sat me down on the couch and freely opened up to me about his past criminal background. The only reason he wasn't still in prison serving another four year sentence was because he struck a deal with the FBI. Neal agreed to be a Criminal Informant to Agent Peter Burke at the New York White Collar division of the FBI for four years. I already knew all this from my detailed research of Neal. Yet, his brutal honesty with me truly moved me. I don't recall anyone in my life, even my own parents, being so open with me. It is said a healthy relationship is built on open and honest communication between people.

My rational logic was nowhere to be found in that particular moment. I was actually at a loss for words. Over time, my romantic feelings for Neal Caffrey had merged my cover identity as Rebecca Lowe and real identity as Rachel Turner. Not good at all. There was no longer any distinction between my cover and real identities! I should have just walked out of his apartment, instead I did something very reckless. My romantic feelings overruled my logic. I passionately kissed Neal. He took the kiss as a good sign that our complex relationship wouldn't be negatively affected after what he had just confessed to me. One thing led to another and I spend the rest of the night with him. Waking up in his arms the next morning, I was conflicted more than ever. I began to experience guilt for intentionally deceiving him just to find the lost diamond.

My personal feelings for Neal Caffrey will not shift my priorities of finding Mosconi's treasure. I need to zero in my focus on why this con operation cannot fail. My lifetime freedom away from Rachel Turner would be destroyed. Caffrey won't distract me away from my goal!

I need to eliminate one loose end that has been causing more problems than actually helping me find the magnificent jewel. Curtis Hagen has served his purpose, but now he is no longer useful to me. After Agent Burke arrested Hagen, he realized I had set him up. The William Blake's Judgment Day forgery even included his signature initials subtly within the painting. I know that bastard would rat me out to the Feds in a heartbeat and completely ruin my well-executed cover as Rebecca. Curtis Hagen wanted to prove his innocent despite the damning evidence contradicting his innocence. He brazenly led Neal and Peter along with Agent Jones in the direction of my Brooklyn apartment. How the hell did he even know where I lived? I never told Hagen where I was residing in New York. I found the perfect rooftop to stake out Hagen with my sniper rifle and permanently remove him from the picture. Neal and Peter kept getting in my vantage point many times. With my vantage point finally clear, I pulled the trigger. I didn't need to watch to know the bullet had ripped cleanly through Hagen's heart. The Feds would soon be scoping out all the nearby building rooftops to figure out which gave the best vantage point to kill Curtis Hagen. I quickly packed up the sniper rifle and all my gear briskly heading back to my apartment. The back alleyways concealed me as I rushed back to my apartment building. Agent Burke cannot find any valid evidence that links the murders of Agent David Siegel and Curtis Hagen back to me. They don't even know where my place of residence is. Plus, Neal cannot venture to my Brooklyn apartment without violating the two-mile radius restriction of his tracking anklet. I've fully covered all my bases.

Now I just need Neal to figure out the exact location of the lost treasure by translating Mosconi's cryptic clues. Mozzie and Neal figured out that one of the pieces in Mosconi's stain glass window design was discreetly hiding a looking glass piece. This looking glass uncovered hidden symbols within the sheets of the Mosconi codex. Neal and Mozzie were still unsure of what it meant. Each day they don't figure it out only aggravates my anxiety since I'm on a tight time crunch. Only _one and half_ months left of this scheme. There's no time to waste!

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**Thank you everyone for supporting my story. **

**Don't forget that White Collar Season 6 premieres tomorrow (Nov. 6th) on USA Network. I will truly miss this fantastically amazing show...so sad Season 6 will be the LAST season. I'm glad that I recently discovered this show before it ended. **All things must come to an end eventually. At least White Collar will be ending on a high note!****


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